DuPage County News Briefs

Chronicle Media Staff — July 12, 2017

This poster honors Wheaton native Staff Sgt. Robert Miller who posthumously was awarded the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest award. College of DuPage’s homeland security building now bears his name.

GLEN ELLYN

COD building honors Medal of Honor recipient

The memory of a local and national war hero lives on with the naming of the College of DuPage’s homeland security building. The building now honors Robert Miller, a Wheaton native, who died in combat in Afghanistan in 2008, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the U.S. military’s highest award.

Staff Sergeant Miller, 24, was a member of the elite Green Berets, also known as Special Forces, serving in Afghanistan. Special Forces soldiers specialize in assisting and training foreign fighters. On Jan. 25, 2008, Miller’s unit was ambushed by enemy forces who were well entrenched in the mountains. As they were being ambushed, according to Miller’s Medal of Honor citation, “with total disregard for his own safety, he called for his men to quickly move back to covered positions as he charged the enemy over exposed ground and under overwhelming enemy fire in order to provide protective fire for his team.”

Miller was shot in the torso. “Ignoring the wound, he continued to push the fight, moving to draw fire from over one hundred enemy fighters upon himself,” the citation says, which was signed by President Obama in 2010.

In the incident, Miller killed at least 10 enemy fighters, wounded dozens more, and saved the lives of more than 20 American and friendly Afghan troops.

NAPERVILLE

TV star Miranda May will appear at Last Fling

The star of the Disney Channel television comedy “Bunk’d,” will visit Naperville’s Last Fling.

Miranda May, star of the TV show, will do a public meet-and-greet during the annual Labor Day weekend event.

May, who plays Lou, a counselor for the Woodchuck cabin at Camp Kikiwaka, will appear at Family Fun Land at Naper Settlement from 3 to 5 p.m. Sept. 3. Admission to meet May is free,

but attendees must obtain a wristband, which will be distributed starting at 10 a.m. Sept. 3 at the Settlement, 523 S. Webster St.

Last Fling, a fundraising event held Labor Day weekend by the Naperville Jaycees, features live entertainment, food, carnival rides and a Labor Day parade. Family Fun Land is a section devoted to family-friendly activities, including pony rides, a petting zoo, bounce houses, crafts and entertainment. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 2-4.

Two of four main stage acts have been announced — Brett Michaels will perform at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 2 and Barenaked Ladies at 8 p.m. Sept. 3. Tickets are on sale for $25 to $250. For more information, go to lastfling.org.

DUI arrests show Naperville 4th in state

In 2016, Naperville had the 4th highest impaired driver arrest rate in Illinois, according to the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists.

The top three municipalities in Illinois for DUI arrests were respectively Rockford, Decatur and Elgin. Eighty-one percent of the 700 law enforcement agencies responded.

As it did in 2015, Naperville came in fourth place, with 312 DUI arrests in 2016. That was a decline of a little more than 15 percent from the 2015 tally of 369 arrests, but enough to keep their ranking AAIM’s 2016 Illinois DUI Arrest Survey.

AAIM is a citizen activist group founded in 1982 by victims of drunken driving. For the full results of the survey, go to aaim1.org.

WHEATON

Cosley Zoo to hold adults-only event

Cosley Zoo and children go together. Duck and chicken feedings, discovery stations, interactive railroad caboose, and more activities are offered with kids in mind. But July 20 the attention will be on adults, as the zoo holds Cosley Zoo Uncorked, a premium outdoor wine tasting for those 21 and over.

The evening’s activities will begin at 5:30 p.m., which will include sampling of more than 50 wines at nine tasting stations, munching on hors d’oeuvres from My Chef Catering, live entertainment by Trio Life and raffles.

Guests can purchase entries for Tipsy Turtles, a 50/50 raffle benefitting both the zoo and the winner. Each entry is a rubber turtle marked with a number and placed in a portable plastic swimming pool, where they float until the lucky toy is picked.

Tickets to Cosley Zoo Uncorked are $40 per person and $75 per couple. Proceeds benefit Cosley Zoo’s nationally accredited animal care, conservation and public education efforts. Cosley Zoo Uncorked is supported by Famous Liquors, Red Fin and Club Pilates.